


Voices On The Edge

by JustBeMe13



Category: One Piece
Genre: Character Death, F/M, Slave Trade, Tears, Who is that weird girl?, Zoro has to explain shit, Zoro is married
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:00:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24455590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustBeMe13/pseuds/JustBeMe13
Summary: The wastelands hold secrets the Straw Hat crew didn't know of. And Zoro surely had not thought he'd find someone he had presumed was dead.
Relationships: Roronoa Zoro/Original Character(s)
Kudos: 18





	Voices On The Edge

**Author's Note:**

> This was a whim. I don't know what to do more so I just ended it easy and left it quite open. I hope you enjoy it anyway.

Zoro hated wastelands. They were empty, silent and creepy. Not that he _really_ minded that. But the quiet got to his crew and made them antsy. They kept looking left and right to see if there were enemies. But there were none. Zoro’s boots made a crunching noise as he stepped on a dead twig and Ussop shrieked loudly. The sound echoed over the enormous dead lands and disappeared in a whisper. Zoro frowned at the Sniper, who shivered from top to bottom and shot him a murderous look.

“What?” Zoro asked, straightening his long green coat to block out the chilly, whistling wind.

Ussop glared harder at him and turned back, holding his slingshot, Kabuto, at the ready. Luffy’s laugh rang out through the field as he spotted something and shot off. Beside Zoro, Nami sighed and brought her hand to her head, face-palming.

“He’s so stupid,” she complained.

Zoro couldn’t do more than agree. “You’re right, Witch, even if I don’t want to admit it,” he said.

A boot suddenly shot in his view and Zoro flicked out a katana to block Sanji’s vicious kick. Sanji’s eyes were ablaze and Zoro grinned, he’d made that comment to get on the Cooks nerves especially. Nami ignored them as she walked on, joining Robin at the front. Zoro blocked another kick and retaliated with a hard slash of Wado to Sanji’s head.

“What crawled up your ass and died, Curlicue?” he growled.

Sanji’s expression turned livid and he yelled loudly, “I’m gonna kill you Moss-Head!” He shot off and was about to kick Zoro when something got the latter attention.

Zoro whipped around at the sound of his name. It had been a whisper, but he’d heard it so clearly that it made his head spin. Sanji’s ‘Whoa!’ was ignored and the kick never came as Franky caught the Cook just in time to save Zoro’s head from caving in.

“What’s wrong idiot? Why didn’t you block?” Sanji raged from Franky’s choke hold.

The Shipwright had to put all of his efforts into holding Sanji, and thus had not noticed what was wrong with said Swordsman. Zoro’s body had begun to tremble and Brook noticed this as he came upon them.

“Is something wrong, Zoro-san?” he asked.

Nami had returned Luffy, who was gnawing at a curly stick, and frowned as well as Zoro didn’t answer. Instead, to their shock, Zoro dropped his sword with a clatter and took off running to the side of their supposed track, stumbling all the way.

“Hey! Where are you going?” Nami shrieked.

Beside her, Ussop and Chopper frowned. “What’s he up to?” they said at the same time.

Zoro ignored them all as he raced over the dead grass and dry dirt towards what he’d seen. He could hardly believe his eyes as he came closer and his breath stopped as he got a full look.

There, among a few standing, though dead, trees, was someone he thought he’d never see again. Someone who he’d thought was dead and could never be returned. Someone he’d loved, with his every fiber, every part of his being. There, among the trees, stood the one girl he had ever loved more than his swords.

Her pale face stood in a grimace, but her amber eyes were locked straight on him. Her body trembled with the force of standing and an exhausted smile crossed her features. Her once beautiful blonde hair was matted with dried blood and dirt, he could see that from the distance. Her frail body looked even weaker than it had before and her hand holding her up shook with force.

“Zoro...” she uttered. It was so soft, so tiny, he struggled to hear it. “...I found you,” she managed.

Her eyes rolled back and her body went limp as exhaustion and possible hunger took over. Zoro shot forward faster than he ever had and he caught her gently, lowering her to the floor, or falling to his knees. He didn’t know which one was more likely. Probably the latter. 

His body trembled with emotion he hadn’t felt in years and he didn’t care if anyone saw, but he hugged her close to him as if she was his anchor to the world. Shuffles of feet made him aware of his surroundings seconds later, but he ignored his crew in favor of cradling the woman he loved.

“Zoro?” Luffy’s voice asked gently.

Zoro didn’t say anything at first, his voice lost. Then; “Chopper,” he rasped.

A patter of hooves made him aware of his presence and he eased his tense posture away from the unconscious woman for a moment. Chopper came into view and the reindeer quickly checked her over. With a worried face, Zoro lowered her a little more, and only then noticed Sanji with Wado. He looked at him with a stunned face for a moment. Sanji caught his eye and returned the sword to him, respectful of it the entire time.

“Who is she?” the Cook asked gently.

Zoro swallowed hard, choosing not to answer. He watched as Chopper worked on her and waited for the Doctor’s diagnoses on her. Sanji hadn’t pressed the matter any further and knelt down beside Zoro to get a good look at the woman.

Zoro shot him a glare, but Sanji ignored him. “She’s starving,” he noted.

Zoro’s glare let up and he frowned. “How do you know that?” he growled, anger welling up inside him.

Sanji shot him a look that said ‘Are you serious?’ and pointed at her. “She’s thin all over, and not just on her arms or legs. She’s not a weak woman, is she?” at Zoro head shake he continued. “Her face is thinner than it should be and even her hands are caving under the hunger.”

Zoro noticed it, too, then. She was thinner than she used to be, and all the muscle she had built up was gone. She looked like a prisoner. Zoro’s eye widened and he frantically lifted her shirt from her side, it was tattered and dirty, but he didn’t care. He found what he dreaded and let out an involuntary whine. Sanji looked at him in shock as he saw what Zoro had searched for.

It was the mark of a slave.

**o-o-o**

Luffy frowned at his First Mate. The man hadn’t napped in over a week since the girl had been brought to their ship. He hadn’t talked to anyone, only if they asked him something. He hadn’t stopped brooding and he looked as depressed as if one of that pig tails woman had hit him with one of her ghosts. Luffy had enough of it now and he wanted Zoro to be back to normal quickly.

Luffy jumped off his special Captain’s seat and made his way over to the main deck, where he spotted Zoro slumped against the main mast. Luffy felt a sudden urge to punch the man, but knew that wouldn’t help anything. He walked down the stairs and made to stand directly in front of his First Mate.

Zoro stared through him, totally unaware of his presence. Luffy grew an irk mark and had enough. He knew the rest of the crew was on deck, besides Chopper, and he grabbed Zoro by his coat. He hefted the man up, and with a start, Zoro noticed him. Hands flew to his arm and Zoro held himself up from tearing his coat.

“What the fuck, Luffy?” Zoro rasped, grasping at his arm.

Luffy bared his teeth and threw his Swordsman to the side of the ship, to which Ussop jumped aside to not get crushed. Zoro hit the side of the rail and gripped it sharply and turning to his Captain with a murderous glare.

“Stop sulking,” Luffy said so soft it was barely audible.

Zoro’s posture changed as he sensed his Captains anger. He looked a little deflated at that and sat down in the grass, sighing loudly. Luffy then noticed the rest of the crew looking at them. He ignored them in favor of questioning the Swordsman.

“Zoro, you haven’t told us anything about her. I want to know,” Luffy demanded.

Zoro glanced at him, then back at the grass by his feet. After a while, with the crew watching him in silence, Zoro nodded. “Alright,” he said. “I’ll tell you.”

Luffy only nodded.

**o-o-o**

Nami followed the rest of the crew in and made her way to sit on the couch of galley. She had this weird feeling that things were going downhill, but the weather was calm and they were still docked, so it was all good. They had finally found a town in port, to which she took Sanji for shopping. They had enough food and other things to stay on the island and on the Sunny, but otherwise, it had been boring.

They’d gone on exploration one morning, and then Zoro had found that girl, who apparently meant a lot to him. She’d always wondered who had captured the Swordsman’s heart. He had the opportunity with one girl to get laid, but he shot her down, much to the shock of her, and the crew. She had been a pretty girl at least. Nami was still wondering though.

The only thing Zoro had said that time, was that his heart belonged to a dead girl. He’d said it with such pain that Nami felt sorry for him. Now, she had a pretty good idea that the woman they found, was the dead girl he mentioned. And he wasn’t talking about Kuina, according to Luffy.

Nami came back to her senses as the rest of the crew filed in and Robin came to sit next to her with a small smile. Zoro came in last and Nami crossed her legs, raising her brow at his defeated expression. The Swordsman went to sit on the floor, his comfort spot against the wall. With a heavy sigh, he crossed his arms and stared at his feet.

“So?” Nami spoke up. “Gonna tell us what’s going on?” she asked.

Zoro shot her a glare, but retaliated with another sigh. “Fine,” he said.

He shifted a bit and sat more comfortable, before glancing at Luffy with one of the most vulnerable expressions Nami had ever seen. She frowned, wondering what was on his mind that weighed so heavy.

Zoro opened his mouth a few times, swallowed hard and then started.

“That woman, I thought she was dead, that was why I reacted that way. I knew her five years ago, when I was a bounty hunter,” he said. “She was a normal village girl, trained in basic swordsmanship by her parents to defend the village from pirates and bandits. I got there to collect a bounty and ended up too injured to actually capture the bastard. She and her family helped me heal and survive that time. I-“ Zoro frowned, stopping for a moment.

Nami couldn’t make out his expression, but he seemed rather troubled. “You can take the time,” she said softly. Zoro shot her a grateful look as she said it.

“I stayed there for a year, maybe a little more. She was the first girl I ever saw as beautiful or pretty. She was something I had never seen before. It wasn’t long before we fell in love after that. God this is weird,” he murmured the last part with a red face.

Sanji snorted and Nami bonked him on the head before he could interrupt her rambling information source.

“Her name is Elizabeth, she’s a wonderful woman and I honestly thought she was dead.”

Nami frowned a little. Zoro didn’t seem keen on telling them, but she wanted to know, badly. She uncrossed her legs and placed her elbows on her knees, laying her head in her hands.

“Go on,” she pressed.

Zoro shuddered. “The village was attacked. I protected it, or tried to. Everyone, almost everyone fled and got to safety. Except for Elizabeth. All houses were on fire and she’d heard a baby cry. She rushed in and up the stairs of the blazing building. I saw her out of the window, and she threw the baby at me. Then the house collapsed.” He stopped talking then, and looked away.

Nami could feel the waves of emotion come off him, her Haki picking it up. He was so sad and, well, he was just sad. Nami stood, she’d heard enough. Nobody stopped her from going out, nobody wanted to. She closed the door behind her and made her way around to the other door of the infirmary.

She was about to step in when she noted Chopper coming out. “How is she?” the red head asked.

“Better, she’s had enough rest. I suppose she will wake up around tomorrow at noon,” Chopper replied as he toddled over to her.

Nami nodded happily and sat herself down. “He loves her,” she said to Chopper.

The reindeer nodded at that, not surprised in the least. “Yeah, she faintly smells of him.”

That surprised the Navigator. There was something Zoro wasn’t telling them, but she had no idea what it was. Yet.

**o-o-o**

Zoro laid in his bunk, ignoring the shouts of his crew as they battled a sea king Luffy wanted for dinner. He could hear Sanji shouting about capturing it before they could eat it and the ship rocked. Chopper’s yelp came from the infirmary and Zoro turned, trying to ignore it all. The only thing he wanted to do now, was hold Elizabeth to him. He wanted to hold her close to him, to feel her warmth to his body one more time.

 _If it was a dream, it better be a nightmare_ , he thought.

A sudden spike in energy made him sit up just as Chopper shrieked in surprise. He knew that only meant one thing. Elizabeth was awake. Zoro faulted out of his bunk, smacking his face into the hardwood floor as he tried to find his balance. When he found his sea-legs again he shot forward and out of the room, onto the deck and into the galley.

He fell into the doorway, stopping short when he saw the blonde girl standing in the infirmary doorway.

“El,” he stuttered.

The blonde girl smiled at him, and suddenly, she had faulted to him and he threw his arms up to catch her. They fell through the doorway and onto the upper deck, drawing the attention from a sudden sea king to the fallen Swordsman.

The sea king took it’s chance and made a beeline for the weakest aura on the ship. Elizabeth. Zoro spotted it and drew a sword, still on the ground. He tensed, swung his sword and caught the fish right between the eyes. It fell not a second later, much to the pleasure of a certain Straw Hat Captain.

“You’re awake,” Nami noted from the lower deck.

Zoro ignored her in favor of re-sheathing his sword and brushing the short locks of blonde hair out of Elizabeth’s face. Her eyes locked on his and he couldn’t help but think she was more beautiful now than she had been. His hand caressed her cheek and she nuzzled into his hand.

“You’re alive,” he said in a whisper.

El only nodded her head, still looking at him with her amber eyes. “I am,” she finally said.

Zoro swallowed the lump in his throat. “How?” he croaked.

A haunted look passed by El’s eyes and Zoro didn’t ask further, he knew enough. He pressed her face into his shoulder and hugged her to his body, eyes blurring as he let emotion take a piece of him. Tears blurred his vision and Zoro pressed a kiss to Elizabeth’s head, feeling her give a sigh and relax.

“I love you,” he murmured.

It may not be enough for now, but it was all he could do. Hold her as she hugged him and as he cried. They would get through this, Zoro would make sure of it. And if he ever found out which bastard sold his wife as a slave, he would make him beg for death.


End file.
